World Cup Star Cisse Now A DJ

World Cup Star Cisse Now A DJ

Cisse, who also has a successful clothing brand, has already played some of the biggest venues around the world and is not ready to move into coaching just yet.

The ex- Liverpool and France star said: “I always liked music and DJing. Football and nightlife is not always compatible. But now I have a little more time I can DJ a bit more.

“I do it all over. I go to Belgium next week, I have a lot of gigs in France, the next one is in Lebanon, Beirut, they are really nice places. It’s another job.”

“They are big venues now but I have been doing it for 20 years. I was 14 when I started, but not in clubs, it was just for me, with my friends. Now I’ve done Ministry of Sound, Whisky Mist and a few more.

“My clothing range is going well. I’ve got retailers in France. We do some pop up shops and I have a lot retailers.

“I’m designer, accountant, I don’t sew the clothes, but I do everything else. Nothing comes out without me deciding it should.”

From suffering two horrific leg breaks, being part of the infamous France World Cup strike and some of the best haircuts in football, life has never been dull.

Cisse, whose eight-year-old son Prince has signed as a schoolboy for Liverpool, said: “I like Klopp. He fits with the club. I give him two seasons to have the title.

“I had the chance to meet him and talk with him. He gives you good energy. It’s really great for a player to be under his management. He’s like Mourinho, he gives that energy. I think he’ll do really well.

“In Dortmund people loved him, in Liverpool the same. It’s not an accident. When everyone thinks the same about you it means there’s something there. Even when you see him on TV he’s got good energy, good vibes.

“My son signed for Liverpool so they had the presentations on the day they gave the awards, so I had the chance to spend a bit of time with him. My son Prince is eight now.

Incredibly, Cisse – who suffered leg fractures in 2004 and again in 2006 – tried to make a comeback with his first club Auxerre even after having a hip replacement operation.

Despite now being a professional DJ and working on his own clothing range, Mr Lenoir, that he launched a few years ago, nothing replaces playing and the friendships he has made down the years.

“Your body produces endorphins,” said Cisse recalling his leg breaks. “You know there is something wrong but it’s not crazy pain. Your body is protecting you. After a while, when your body relaxes, then you know something is bad.

“I’ve got pins in my legs, a pin in my hip. At the airport, I set off the alarms! But it depends on how strong mentally you are. Even before I got my hip operation, I was already thinking about playing again.

“It’s important to stay in touch. I’m still in touch with Thierry Henry, Didier Drogba, Samuel Eto’o, Steven Gerrard. They are not only colleagues, you fight for the same battle, share quite personal things and I think it’s a shame just to live a year or two years together and leave it.”

But if there is one regret of his career then it was the France players strike in 2010 after a fall out with the management. It was a scandal which still blights the French national team and brings a sense of embarrassment to Cisse, who provides a refreshing perspective.

“It’s the worst thing that happened in my career, worse than the injuries,” said Cisse. “Injury is a part of the game. But striking is not. It’s stupid.

“It was the first World Cup in Africa, there were a lot of Africans in our squad and you don’t want to show this kind of behaviour to kids. But when you are a small piece of the team even if you disagree you can’t go against them, you have to follow.

“At the time my mum was still working. She was waking up early to go to work and we lucky guys earn a lot of money and we don’t want to train and we’re striking for football when my mum gets up at six to go to work. I was like ‘there’s something not right’.